The spring park match

And thus the rook, pawn, and knights were left to defend the queen side, but Yi pushed the attack on the king side. She was confident in her attacks, and knew that a defense couldn't turn to an offense quickly, and even if it could, Koumei's strong pieces were defending the Queen side. A few masterful strokes, and Yi would soon have the first check.

" It's time.. " Koumei moved one piece, the infamous bishop to the front line, angling it so it had capabilities to go crosswise through the open spots of her mild defence that was being attacked, she used it to threaten whatever piece Yi would send further to her defence, to it's doom. " Ever heard of The Black Tortoise? " She'd look up to gaze at Yi with a interested look on her face.

"An effective technique, tortoise general holds the great defense while the snake general strikes into the opponent. I do not have a deity to save our village, so I must rely on terrestrial tactics," she moved the knight to strengthen defenses and threaten the bishop, as it was the snake in the formation. If the bishop moved in to attack more of Yi's side, then the knight would kill it or one of the other pieces would end it. If the bishop was left for a turn, the knight was prepared to kill it. "The mongoose formation... and the tortoise must wait its turn."

" Oh my.. This is quite entertaining.. But still.. " Koumei would grin as she had moved her pawn besides the two knights, giving the rook she had besides the pawn full access across the battlefield. " I never said which one was the tortoise.. And which the snake. " The man didn't seem to try and move on his own, watching Koumei make the moves for him.

I've lost in twelve moves... She stared at the board, the emotion of despair falling over her mind as it appeared she could not win with the second offensive revealed. The man she was commanding for seemed to not understand the peril for his side and began to move towards the knight to take the bishop. Yi reached in quicker to a pawn, and moved it forward between the bishop and the rook, splitting them. Of course, the rook could easily take the pawn on it's own, but would be threatened by an earlier unimportant pawn. Sure, the rook could keep attacking Yi's queen side defenses and rack up a decent kill count... but not if Koumei wanted to not sacrifice her bishop.

Why did I think I had lost? Lu Zhou Yi looked up to consider Koumei. Mind games? I've never fallen for them before: Words are meaningless. But then... why did I just fall into despair?

Koumei kept her eyes on the board though she did notice the delay in Yi's movements. It was a signal for her to continue her plan and instead of attack the pawn she had moved, she let it stay there, moving one of the knights that were infront of her rook, one step upwards, closer to the queen. Yi's silence was enough to make her add up to the pressure, as if wanting to force Yi to surrender. " Surrendering in a battle is not a loss.. It is a lesson served for the war. " Koumei started to look up and look into Yi's eyes with her own dim grey ones, as if seeing through her and whatever she was thinking. " You're misguided, I can be your guide. "

"Now listen here, girls!" finally exclaimed the man who Yi was making moves for, "My friend and I were just having a nice game of chess between the two of us to see which was better! I'd like it if you stopped playing for us!"

"Oh, why you gonna run the pretty girls off?" complained Koumei's original player.

"Because, they're distracting... and if the wife found out I was playing with them, she'd flip out!" cried the man who had been playing the white side.

Surprised and slightly confused, Yi looked from Koumei to the men. Even though he had been playing the game before her interruption she was under the impression the man wanted to win and not waste pieces to his friend. She bowed graciously to the man and looked to Koumei, "My lord has forsaken me, you spoke of surrender, Lady... ?"

Koumei would simply smile as the two man argued, deciding to leave it at that and was going to leave the three there where the two men were going to play without them though her eyes noticed when Yi bowed at her. " Indeed.. However, just surrendering will not benefit me in this battle.. Instead, I seem to have stumbled on a great general.. One with wits that matches her amazing beauty. My name is Koshajin Koumei, and would like for you to join me. "

"Lady Koshajin," she replied plainly, this moment was a make or break moment, a critical point in this friendship... or alliance, "My name is Lu Zhou Yi. I humbly submit that your chess skills are impressive, and am grateful you flatter me with words and an offer. Your surrendered general must ask: What would you have her do?"

" Lady Zhou, I have big plans for the future of the FWA. I have taken notice upon the two factions fighting eachother, one manifested with evil the one made of battling angels. " She turned and looked over her shoulder at Zhou, a confident smile on her face. " I will assemble the Dragons, Tigers and phoenixes of the past and revive them to this age.. " She then started to walk off, towards a nearby lake. " They will fight for me. "